QuakeCon: The best case mods from North America's biggest LAN

Our favorite QuakeCon cases

“It all comes down to detail work,” Nick Blackwell screams at me. It’s not Nick’s fault that he’s screaming; it’s just really loud on the show floor at QuakeCon. Nick and a few others will judge the case modding competition at North America’s largest LAN party, so I ask him what he’s looking for. Creativity, he screams. He’s going to be judging case creators’ ingenuity and willingness to take risks.

With the wow factor in mind, I crawled through the empty take-out containers and crushed energy drink cans that cover every surface of the Bring Your Own Computer area of QuakeCon. Official results won’t be in until later this weekend, so I’ve decided to hand out my own awards. These are my favorite five custom-built PCs and what their builders had to say about them, plus a few honorable mentions that weren't quite as amazing.

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#5: Revolution by Marc Molella

Built with a ton of copper highlights, Revolution is meant to invoke the rare metals and the rough machinery of the Industrial Revolution. This gorgeous rig combines warm orange light with great cable management to look sleek and clean, like a steam engine designed by Apple.

“The build process was ridiculous,” its creator, Marc Molella, says. “I used copper because it’s an extremely rare metal to use in case mods... It takes a lot of pre-thought on how you’re going to do something, and having the vision as a modder of how I want it to look. Then you have to execute that and have it look how I saw it in my head.”

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#5: Revolution by Marc Molella

Built with a ton of copper highlights, Revolution is meant to invoke the rare metals and the rough machinery of the Industrial Revolution. This gorgeous rig combines warm orange light with great cable management to look sleek and clean, like a steam engine designed by Apple.

“The build process was ridiculous,” its creator, Marc Molella, says. “I used copper because it’s an extremely rare metal to use in case mods... It takes a lot of pre-thought on how you’re going to do something, and having the vision as a modder of how I want it to look. Then you have to execute that and have it look how I saw it in my head.”

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#4: TF2 Sentry Gun by Craftables Shop

A steady crowd has been stopping to surround a table halfway down the aisle, so I check it out. The draw is a cherry-red, life-size sentry gun from Team Fortress 2, all round, cartoon lines and a dark, black gun muzzle. It tilts and pans, and a bright red eye looks forward, scanning the crowd around it.

Michael, one half of a prop production company called Craftables Shop, tells me that he spent nine months and hundreds of hours building a moving turret that also housed a working PC. He couldn’t make it the biggest, beefiest system in the world because of size and weight restrictions.

“There were three things I was shooting for,” Michael says. “Low heat, because PLA [plastic] will deform under high heat, low weight, and low budget. I was able to achieve all of those things, and still run TF2 [on Ultra high graphics settings].”

The PC does indeed run Team Fortress 2. I keep looking over my shoulder for a Spy.

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#4: TF2 Sentry Gun by Craftables Shop

A steady crowd has been stopping to surround a table halfway down the aisle, so I check it out. The draw is a cherry-red, life-size sentry gun from Team Fortress 2, all round, cartoon lines and a dark, black gun muzzle. It tilts and pans, and a bright red eye looks forward, scanning the crowd around it.

Michael, one half of a prop production company called Craftables Shop, tells me that he spent nine months and hundreds of hours building a moving turret that also housed a working PC. He couldn’t make it the biggest, beefiest system in the world because of size and weight restrictions.

“There were three things I was shooting for,” Michael says. “Low heat, because PLA [plastic] will deform under high heat, low weight, and low budget. I was able to achieve all of those things, and still run TF2 [on Ultra high graphics settings].”

The PC does indeed run Team Fortress 2. I keep looking over my shoulder for a Spy.

PrevPage 5 of 18Next PrevPage 5 of 18Next

#4: TF2 Sentry Gun by Craftables Shop

A steady crowd has been stopping to surround a table halfway down the aisle, so I check it out. The draw is a cherry-red, life-size sentry gun from Team Fortress 2, all round, cartoon lines and a dark, black gun muzzle. It tilts and pans, and a bright red eye looks forward, scanning the crowd around it.

Michael, one half of a prop production company called Craftables Shop, tells me that he spent nine months and hundreds of hours building a moving turret that also housed a working PC. He couldn’t make it the biggest, beefiest system in the world because of size and weight restrictions.

“There were three things I was shooting for,” Michael says. “Low heat, because PLA [plastic] will deform under high heat, low weight, and low budget. I was able to achieve all of those things, and still run TF2 [on Ultra high graphics settings].”

The PC does indeed run Team Fortress 2. I keep looking over my shoulder for a Spy.

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#3: Vapor Phaze by EzTek

I’m lining up a picture of something interesting: a cylindrical, liquid-filled PC with bubbles streaming off of the exposed CPU and GPU hardware. Next to me, a man says, horrified: “Is….is that water?”

“It’s mineral oil,” I say, even though the liquid is unbelievably clear and has none of the cloudiness mineral oil usually has. “It… has to be.”

It’s not mineral oil. Zac Glander, the creator of the case, says it’s a specially engineered non-conductive liquid that boils in contact with hot components. The bubbles rise to the top of the case into a condensing radiator, where they dump heat into the air, condense back into liquid, and return to the pool.

“There wasn’t a single thing that wasn’t a challenge because it’s totally custom-fabricated,” Zac says. “The radiator is cylindrical. We went to the radiator manufacturers and asked for that. They said it couldn’t be done, so I fabricated it myself.”

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#2: Unlicensed Nuclear Accelerator by Mike Walt

A real traffic problem is starting to form behind me as I ogle the Sentry Gun case. Turning around, I spot an unlikely heap of crap on a table surrounded by onlookers. Getting closer, I see that the heap of crap is actually the back side of a Ghostbusters-ready Proton Pack. After several minutes of trying to get a nice photo that captures the real details of it, I give up. It looks incredible in person and awful on camera.

“This is a one-to-one movie replica of the Proton Packs from the movie Ghostbusters 2,” creator Mike Walt tells me. “It’s a fiberglass shell and most of the accessories on the outside are resin. I didn’t want to compromise the ability for this case to be a prop. I wanted it to be a great prop, but I also wanted it to be a good gaming machine as well.” He gestures to plexiglass windows on the backside of the backpack showing off LED lights and humming hardware. The Proton Pack is actually a backpack, olive green canvas straps hanging from a military surplus ALICE frame.

“There’s a lot of 3D printing on the inside to make all the mounts and whatnot so we could get everything in there.” I’ve noticed quite a few cases with 3D printed components, so I ask him about it. “What 3D printing has brought to the table,” he says, “it made all of my internal mounting so much easier because we could quickly draw something up and prototype it and get it in the case. In reality it took me two weeks, maybe, once I got the shell done to do the PC part of it. It would have taken me three times as long if we didn’t have access to a 3D printer.”

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#2: Unlicensed Nuclear Accelerator by Mike Walt

A real traffic problem is starting to form behind me as I ogle the Sentry Gun case. Turning around, I spot an unlikely heap of crap on a table surrounded by onlookers. Getting closer, I see that the heap of crap is actually the back side of a Ghostbusters-ready Proton Pack. After several minutes of trying to get a nice photo that captures the real details of it, I give up. It looks incredible in person and awful on camera.

“This is a one-to-one movie replica of the Proton Packs from the movie Ghostbusters 2,” creator Mike Walt tells me. “It’s a fiberglass shell and most of the accessories on the outside are resin. I didn’t want to compromise the ability for this case to be a prop. I wanted it to be a great prop, but I also wanted it to be a good gaming machine as well.” He gestures to plexiglass windows on the backside of the backpack showing off LED lights and humming hardware. The Proton Pack is actually a backpack, olive green canvas straps hanging from a military surplus ALICE frame.

“There’s a lot of 3D printing on the inside to make all the mounts and whatnot so we could get everything in there.” I’ve noticed quite a few cases with 3D printed components, so I ask him about it. “What 3D printing has brought to the table,” he says, “it made all of my internal mounting so much easier because we could quickly draw something up and prototype it and get it in the case. In reality it took me two weeks, maybe, once I got the shell done to do the PC part of it. It would have taken me three times as long if we didn’t have access to a 3D printer.”

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#1: Wooden PC Case by Chris Macias

There’s almost no foot traffic over in the corner of the BYOC area when I barge up and totally interrupt Chris Macias’s lunch because I am a jerk. I’m freaking out, though, because Chris is sitting next to a PC case humming in a cradle of smooth wood. Chris is cool about it.

“The case is built entirely out of purpleheart and American walnut. The feet are actually out of cocobolo, but that’s kind of hard to see,” he says. I take a look at the case’s feet. Yep, looks like cocobolo to me. (I have no idea.)

“I just wanted something different. I wanted to challenge myself. I’m a trim carpenter by day, so I work with wood every day. But I never get to do anything as intricate as this. I wanted to make my own unique case, something that nobody else has,” he says.

In an aircraft hangar-sized room full of glass and aluminum and steel and color-cycling rainbow lights, there’s not a single thing that looks remotely like this. If Ron Swanson ever built a PC case, this is how he would do it.

“There’s only nine screws holding it together,” Chris says. “Eight of them are in the motherboard, and one of them is in the graphics card.” The card, by the way, is a GTX 780. The rig has 16GB RAM and an i7 processor in the center. “The case is assembled without fasteners at all. No nails, no screws, no staples. Everything has a real snug fit, so I can just pop things out as I need to."

It’s simple and understated, with a row of white LEDs to illuminate the interior. In a room full of huge, flashy, sexy competition, Chris has made something of real, unusual beauty. I kind of want to hug him, but I don’t think he’d appreciate it. Instead, I do what Ron Swanson would do: I give him a nod and shake his hand.

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#1: Wooden PC Case by Chris Macias

There’s almost no foot traffic over in the corner of the BYOC area when I barge up and totally interrupt Chris Macias’s lunch because I am a jerk. I’m freaking out, though, because Chris is sitting next to a PC case humming in a cradle of smooth wood. Chris is cool about it.

“The case is built entirely out of purpleheart and American walnut. The feet are actually out of cocobolo, but that’s kind of hard to see,” he says. I take a look at the case’s feet. Yep, looks like cocobolo to me. (I have no idea.)

“I just wanted something different. I wanted to challenge myself. I’m a trim carpenter by day, so I work with wood every day. But I never get to do anything as intricate as this. I wanted to make my own unique case, something that nobody else has,” he says.

In an aircraft hangar-sized room full of glass and aluminum and steel and color-cycling rainbow lights, there’s not a single thing that looks remotely like this. If Ron Swanson ever built a PC case, this is how he would do it.

“There’s only nine screws holding it together,” Chris says. “Eight of them are in the motherboard, and one of them is in the graphics card.” The card, by the way, is a GTX 780. The rig has 16GB RAM and an i7 processor in the center. “The case is assembled without fasteners at all. No nails, no screws, no staples. Everything has a real snug fit, so I can just pop things out as I need to."

It’s simple and understated, with a row of white LEDs to illuminate the interior. In a room full of huge, flashy, sexy competition, Chris has made something of real, unusual beauty. I kind of want to hug him, but I don’t think he’d appreciate it. Instead, I do what Ron Swanson would do: I give him a nod and shake his hand.

PrevPage 11 of 18Next PrevPage 11 of 18Next

#1: Wooden PC Case by Chris Macias

There’s almost no foot traffic over in the corner of the BYOC area when I barge up and totally interrupt Chris Macias’s lunch because I am a jerk. I’m freaking out, though, because Chris is sitting next to a PC case humming in a cradle of smooth wood. Chris is cool about it.

“The case is built entirely out of purpleheart and American walnut. The feet are actually out of cocobolo, but that’s kind of hard to see,” he says. I take a look at the case’s feet. Yep, looks like cocobolo to me. (I have no idea.)

“I just wanted something different. I wanted to challenge myself. I’m a trim carpenter by day, so I work with wood every day. But I never get to do anything as intricate as this. I wanted to make my own unique case, something that nobody else has,” he says.

In an aircraft hangar-sized room full of glass and aluminum and steel and color-cycling rainbow lights, there’s not a single thing that looks remotely like this. If Ron Swanson ever built a PC case, this is how he would do it.

“There’s only nine screws holding it together,” Chris says. “Eight of them are in the motherboard, and one of them is in the graphics card.” The card, by the way, is a GTX 780. The rig has 16GB RAM and an i7 processor in the center. “The case is assembled without fasteners at all. No nails, no screws, no staples. Everything has a real snug fit, so I can just pop things out as I need to."

It’s simple and understated, with a row of white LEDs to illuminate the interior. In a room full of huge, flashy, sexy competition, Chris has made something of real, unusual beauty. I kind of want to hug him, but I don’t think he’d appreciate it. Instead, I do what Ron Swanson would do: I give him a nod and shake his hand.

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Honorable Mentions

Being at QuakeCon slowly starts to warp your perceptions. With incredible cases like a working sentry turret and a movie-quality Ghostbusters prop drawing crowds, it was easy to walk past a dozen beautiful, lovingly crafted high-end gaming rigs like they were nothing. Water cooling and LEDs? Not enough.

Still, these cases represent tons of work and money on the part of their creators. Here are a few more beautiful ones I saw.

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Honorable Mention

Being at QuakeCon slowly starts to warp your perceptions. With incredible cases like a working sentry turret and a movie-quality Ghostbusters prop drawing crowds, it was easy to walk past a dozen beautiful, lovingly crafted high-end gaming rigs like they were nothing. Water cooling and LEDs? Not enough.

Still, these cases represent tons of work and money on the part of their creators. Here are a few more beautiful ones I saw.

PrevPage 14 of 18Next PrevPage 14 of 18Next

Honorable Mention

Being at QuakeCon slowly starts to warp your perceptions. With incredible cases like a working sentry turret and a movie-quality Ghostbusters prop drawing crowds, it was easy to walk past a dozen beautiful, lovingly crafted high-end gaming rigs like they were nothing. Water cooling and LEDs? Not enough.

Still, these cases represent tons of work and money on the part of their creators. Here are a few more beautiful ones I saw.

PrevPage 15 of 18Next PrevPage 15 of 18Next

Honorable Mention

Being at QuakeCon slowly starts to warp your perceptions. With incredible cases like a working sentry turret and a movie-quality Ghostbusters prop drawing crowds, it was easy to walk past a dozen beautiful, lovingly crafted high-end gaming rigs like they were nothing. Water cooling and LEDs? Not enough.

Still, these cases represent tons of work and money on the part of their creators. Here are a few more beautiful ones I saw.

PrevPage 16 of 18Next PrevPage 16 of 18Next

Honorable Mention

Being at QuakeCon slowly starts to warp your perceptions. With incredible cases like a working sentry turret and a movie-quality Ghostbusters prop drawing crowds, it was easy to walk past a dozen beautiful, lovingly crafted high-end gaming rigs like they were nothing. Water cooling and LEDs? Not enough.

Still, these cases represent tons of work and money on the part of their creators. Here are a few more beautiful ones I saw.

PrevPage 17 of 18Next PrevPage 17 of 18Next

Honorable Mention

Being at QuakeCon slowly starts to warp your perceptions. With incredible cases like a working sentry turret and a movie-quality Ghostbusters prop drawing crowds, it was easy to walk past a dozen beautiful, lovingly crafted high-end gaming rigs like they were nothing. Water cooling and LEDs? Not enough.

Still, these cases represent tons of work and money on the part of their creators. Here are a few more beautiful ones I saw.